# An augmentation strategy to mimic multi-scanner variability in MRI

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2103.12595 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2103.12595/

## Key facts

- Cited by 1 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 8 of its 14 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 23 Mar 2021.

## Builds on (most cited first, 8 of 8)

- [3D U-Net: Learning Dense Volumetric Segmentation from Sparse Annotation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1606.06650/) (2016)
- [Weight Normalization: A Simple Reparameterization to Accelerate Training of Deep Neural Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1602.07868/) (2016)
- [nnU-Net: Self-adapting Framework for U-Net-Based Medical Image Segmentation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1809.10486/) (2018)
- [Medical Image Synthesis for Data Augmentation and Anonymization using Generative Adversarial Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1807.10225/) (2018)
- [The reliability of a deep learning model in clinical out-of-distribution MRI data: a multicohort study](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1911.00515/) (2019)
- [A Learning Strategy for Contrast-agnostic MRI Segmentation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2003.01995/) (2020)
- [Data-Driven Color Augmentation Techniques for Deep Skin Image Analysis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1703.03702/) (2017)
- [PSACNN: Pulse Sequence Adaptive Fast Whole Brain Segmentation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1901.05992/) (2019)

## Built on by (most cited first, 1 of 1)

- [Synthetic Data Generation for Emotional Depth Faces: Optimizing Conditional DCGANs via Genetic Algorithms in the Latent Space and Stabilizing Training with Knowledge Distillation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2508.09188/) (2025)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Most publicly available brain MRI datasets are very homogeneous in terms of scanner and protocols, and it is difficult for models that learn from such data to generalize to multi-center and multi-scanner data. We propose a novel data augmentation approach with the aim of approximating the variability in terms of intensities and contrasts present in real world clinical data. We use a Gaussian Mixture Model based approach to change tissue intensities individually, producing new contrasts while preserving anatomical information. We train a deep learning model on a single scanner dataset and evaluate it on a multi-center and multi-scanner dataset. The proposed approach improves the generalization capability of the model to other scanners not present in the training data.